Colonial Love Q & A: Les & Kathy

 

Thanks to Leslie Megyeri, GWSB MBA ’80, CCAS BA ’63, and Kathy Megyeri, CCAS MA ’82, GSEHD MA ’69, for sharing their story!

Where did you meet on campus? I met my future husband in Professor Hennigan’s speech class in the basement of Lisner Auditorium during the summer of 1963. I thought then that I wanted to be a speech therapist and since he wanted to get rid of his Hungarian accent, we were paired in class to work on language skills, but both of us failed because he still has his accent and I never pursued speech therapy as a career.

What were your first impressions of each other? Back then, Les Megyeri was a debonair European who wore a white summer suit to class so I was immediately smitten.

What #onlyatGW moment did you share as a couple? On our first date, we joined a large group of GW students marching to the National Mall to hear someone by the name of Marian Anderson sing and a speaker known as Dr. Martin Luther King. Little did we know then of the future significance of this historical event. On our second date, out of curiosity, we attended a Barry Goldwater for President rally at the D.C. National Guard Armory. We were met at the door by a girl called Hillary Rodham, an enthusiastic supporter who later became the foremost Democratic standard-bearer after marrying Bill Clinton and running for president herself. Those are the kinds of historical events that GW students are privy to during their time in Washington.

Tell us about your last visit to GW together or how GW has remained important in your life. I continued to support my husband’s educational pursuits at GW while teaching high school English for the next 34 years. After earning his BA in economics, he went on to earn a law degree, his MBA, and a CPA from the school and eventually retired from a career on Capitol Hill. Because we are so grateful for all that GW has offered us, we are now active in the Heritage Society and the Luther Rice Society and have pledged to leave our estate to the school and have helped to endow a chair in government contracts at GW’s law school.  

Anything else you want to share? Our love affair with GW only grows over time as we are able to maintain contact with GW students, faculty, and staff that keeps us engaged, alert, and involved with campus life and national issues. What is most surprising and gratifying to us is that students actually come up to us at events and thank us for our gifts to the school. They have no reason to even know us or be cognizant of our commitment to GW, and yet they are so appreciative that we encourage others every chance we get to leave an active and living legacy even in some small way as each donation has an impact. Thus, our love affair  is reciprocal, lasting, meaningful, and fulfilling.

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